SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Department of Vehicle Engineering RESEARCH OF NORTH POLE AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE’S TECHNOLOGIES AND POWERTRAIN SIMULATION Wenyuan Ji Chen Master Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Zou Yuan March 24, 2020 Abstract The aim of this master’s thesis is to provide a useful framework for upcoming researches about amphibious vehicles designed for the North Pole. This thesis is a brief introduction to the North Pole Amphibious Vehicles, which consists in studying the main requirements of this kind of vehicle. Thus, the research about amphibious vehicle technologies is done on the state-of-art and different powertrain systems and configurations are studied. In this project, a 3D design of an amphibious vehicle and its flow simulation were created with Solidworks in order to calculate the longitudinal parameters of the vehicle. The powertrain system has been chosen following an analysis of conventional, electric and hybrid powertrains, so as to determine which system has a better performance at the North Pole. Different powertrain configurations have been modelled in Matlab Simulink following the mathematical equations that describe the components or using the Powertrain Blockset offered by Matlab. The software simulates the whole powertrain dynamics in conjunction. The results obtained by the simulation were used to compare the 4WD and 6WD powertrains in order to find out which are the most suitable. Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 2 3. Amphibious vehicles - State of the Art .................................................................................. 3 3.1. Types of amphibious vehicles ....................................................................................... 3 3.1.1. Wheeled ................................................................................................................ 3 Boats ...................................................................................................................................... 4 3.1.2. Tracked .................................................................................................................. 5 3.1.3. Deep fording .......................................................................................................... 6 3.1.4. Hovercraft ............................................................................................................. 6 3.2. Amphibious vehicles technologies research ................................................................. 7 3.2.1. Miscellaneous components................................................................................... 7 3.2.2. YEMELYA ................................................................................................................ 9 3.2.3. Sherp ATV .............................................................................................................. 9 3.2.4. Avtoros Shaman .................................................................................................... 9 4. Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 10 5. Powertrain ........................................................................................................................... 11 5.1. Powertrain topology ................................................................................................... 11 5.1.1. Which powertrain is the most convenient for an Amphibious vehicle? ............. 12 5.2. Conventional powertrain components ....................................................................... 13 5.2.1. Engine .................................................................................................................. 13 5.2.2. Power take-up elements ..................................................................................... 13 5.2.3. Transmission (Gearbox)....................................................................................... 14 5.2.4. Differential .......................................................................................................... 16 5.2.5. All-wheel drive transfer case ............................................................................... 16 5.3. Powertrain configurations........................................................................................... 17 5.3.1. Four-wheels drive powertrain ............................................................................. 17 5.3.2. Six-wheels powertrain ......................................................................................... 18 6. Powertrain modelling .......................................................................................................... 20 6.1. Components ................................................................................................................ 22 6.2. Vehicle ......................................................................................................................... 27 2 Axles vehicle longitudinal dynamic model ....................................................................... 28 3 Axles vehicle longitudinal dynamic model ....................................................................... 29 ´ 6.3. Simulation ................................................................................................................... 32 6.3.1. 4WD Powertrain .................................................................................................. 33 6.3.2. 6WD Powertrain .................................................................................................. 36 6.4. Results ......................................................................................................................... 38 4WD Powertrain .................................................................................................................. 38 6WD Powertrain .................................................................................................................. 39 References ................................................................................................................................... 41 1. Introduction The North Pole (also known as Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole) is one of the points of the earth’s surface that coincide with its rotation axis, the opposite one is called South Pole. The North Pole is situated at Arctic Ocean, where the sea is almost constantly covered by a thick layer of ice. The thickness of these layers can reach 5 meters in the nearest areas to North Pole because of its climate. In winter, the temperatures can range from -50 to -13ºC, with an average of -31ºC, and in summer, the average is around 0ºC with the highest recorded temperature being 13ºC [1]. Currently, the Arctic countries that surround the North Pole are the Russian Federation, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), Canada and the United Stated (Alaska). However, no country owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean that surrounds this point, since it is under international law. The fauna of the North Pole is quite limited, the animals that live in such cold places are Polar bears, ringed seals and Arctic foxes. Some birds seen at the North Pole are Snow bunting, Northern fulmar and Black-legged kittiwake [2]. However, there are many unidentified creatures underwater [3] since the thick layer of ice does not allow an easy exploration. In addition, the harsh surface conditions, a mixture of ice, water and snow, make it really difficult to access those areas using conventional vehicles such as boats or cars. Therefore, either an icebreaker or an aircraft is needed. During the history of humankind, there have been a lot of expeditions to the North Pole, some of them resulting in tragedies while others were successful. Before the 21st century, many ways to arrive to the North Pole had been tried, e.g. Icebreaker, helicopter, etc. Nevertheless, during the past few years, the Russians achieved a new way to arrive to the Pole. In 2009, the Russians reached the North Pole with two custom-built 6x6 low-pressure-tire ATVs (Yemelya-1 and Yemelya-2), achieving the recognition to be the first trip from land to the Geographical North Pole [2]. 1 2. Objectives Due to climate change and global warming, huge glaciers and ice grounds in the Arctic are rapidly melting. This fact is opening multiples choices to the world, such as new shipping routes, transport routes, etc. Economically speaking, this could involve important benefits because of shorter shipping times. On the other hand, recently, the high oil prices and the fast melting of the ice are bringing the attention of petroleum industries from countries surrounding the Arctic Ocean and even countries such as China, India and Japan, because according to an USGS publication, the Arctic is estimated to contain between 44 and 157 billion barrels of recoverable oil [4]. In order to exploit the North Pole region, great powers like Russia, China and the United States are seeking new resources to take advantage of and, consequently, considering the option to explore the North Pole [5]. In spite of the existence of the Ice-breaker, an expensive resource, there is a need for other kinds of vehicles that allow to take cheap trips. This is why the amphibious is under research